


Let Us Walk The Flower Path

by moominjeolmie



Series: Growth of Romance [1]
Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: 2park, Alternate Universe - College/University, Deephwi, M/M, Pink sausage, Romance, chamwink, jinhwi, pinksausages
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-16
Updated: 2017-10-22
Packaged: 2019-01-18 05:15:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12381639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moominjeolmie/pseuds/moominjeolmie
Summary: A story of two students as they journey through college facing obstacles, experiencing hardships, chasing dreams, and finding love."Let us walk the flower path" means 'I wish you all the best for the rest of your life' and is an expression of hope and dream. Lee Daehwi became a student of a not known degree program. A person of determination, Daehwi is not the one to back down. Not until, he enters university. In there, he witnesses what the real world is; a discriminating and degrading environment filled with insensitive and proud people.Never did he know, his presence alone would be enough to open a new path and light up a dark world of someone else somewhere.





	1. Chapter 1

The sun completely hides from everyone behind a thick blanket of dark blue as the trees below dances quietly with the wind, laughing a soft hymn. The birds sing happily as they hide under the trees’ green roof, laying on their nest to prepare for the upcoming search for food. Houses are still lighted with their own bright bulbs, greeting the fireflies that bless each doorstep with their calming presence. The air is silent and the moon stays up there, shining at everything down below, reminding everyone that amidst all these darkness is the tiny ball of hope that is enough to light up the path even in the darkest of nights.

The silence is broken by grunts and thumps coming from a fairly large apartment near a university, where in it resides a Child Psychology student, Lee Daehwi. Daehwi hates morning classes. He hates it when his small feet kiss the cold ground and the freezing breeze caresses his cheeks. He hates it when he steps out of the shower as his entire body and soul will shake involuntarily, deeming him unproductive and numb. He also hates it when the sun has still not risen and there he is, trudging around his room. And luck smiles at everyone but him because he has morning classes from Monday to Friday. All thanks to the Math and Economics class required for him to take.

He quickly dries himself off with a towel he has wrapped around his waist. The friction of the towel feels so good and Daehwi gets reluctant to stop the sensation before he decides against it because the wind threatens to freeze his chest. He then quickly opens his closet as he rummages the entire space for his blue shirt and dark pants. As soon as he gets himself prepped, Daehwi proceeded to the kitchen and grab the toast he had prepared before he showered, and then walks to his campus.

He questions his curriculum every time he sees it because, why does a student whose course requires art need to take calculus classes? As a matter of fact,  his best friend, Park Woojin, was keeping tally of how many times Daehwi cursed his Math, but then he stopped when he reached 111 because he knows Daehwi could go for a thousand; and that is a lot of leaves in his notebook to be wasted. Nevertheless, Woojin told Daehwi that it is not bad to have calculus classes because it is all about accurateness of your solutions and beautiful graphs, in which Daehwi’s lips curve into a small smile.

Daehwi enters his classroom and has already chosen his seat when he notices a boy entering the classroom. The said boy scans the wide room and nods to himself, which seems like he has already picked his seat, then heads to the last row. Daehwi cannot help but notice that the boy seems to be always looking down the floor, and it amazes him as the boy did not bump into anyone or anything as he made his way through. Just then, the professor enters the room and sends Daehwi straightening himself and scourging his bag for his notebook.

“Good morning, class. Let us start the day with a fabulous roll call, shall we?” Ms. Park says with a smile directed to almost everyone in the classroom. She then puts a finger on the upper part of the paper nad begins to start the call.

“Park Jihoon. Kim Jaehwan.” Both students shout ‘present’ but Jaehwan, being the extra he is, more like sings it. Everyone in the class laughed, including the boy Daehwi noticed earlier. Not that Daehwi is observing him. Not at all.

The list goes on and Daehwi is still not called as he experiences a temporary existential crisis. Did he really go inside the right class? He hoped so.

“Lee Daehwi, Bae Jinyoung” Daehwi shuffles on his feet and breathes the words ‘present’. His seatmate laughs at him, which sends his eyes rolling to the side. He just then realizes that he did not hear another voice other than him. He then whips his head around and his eyes landed on the boy seated at the last row, slowly standing up and meekly raising his hand.

“Cute” Daehwi puts a finger on his lips to prevent a chuckle to come out. He then faces the boy and curves his lips into a small smile as he watches his classmate’s eyes go slightly wide and mouth agape. The boy lightly shakes his head and gives Daehwi a shy smile in return. “Hmm. Bae Jinyoung” Daehwi mumbles under his breath as he clicks his pen to write the formula flashed on the screen. Needless to say, his Math class did go well.

 

Woojin dumps his tray on the table Daehwi is currently working on. The latter gives him a glare and Woojin just chuckles and proceeds to sit in front of him. The cafeteria is bustling with people and is full of noise as countless talking and shouting mouths fill the area. A certain voice tops all of the others, belonging to Park Jihoon, as the boy jokes with his friends and then letting out a high-pitched laugh right after. Jihoon is also known for being the source of the latest scoops related to everything inside the campus, good or bad. Daehwi frowns and ducks his head at the loud cackle filling the whole cafeteria. He shrugs and shakes his head as he slightly brushes his ear before glaring at Woojin again, who chooses to bounce his shoulders and munches a handful of fries.

“I swear Woojin; if the day when your ketchup lands on my papers happen, I am going to cut your hands off.” Daehwi says with an exasperated huff, stealing a couple of fries from his best friend’s plate. Woojin’s mouth falls agape at Daehwi’s action, causing the former to slap the other’s hand; resulting to some pieces to slip Daehwi’s hand.

“Hey, Lee Daehwi! Buy your own!”

“Consider this as payment for disturbing me, jerk. And please, keep your greasy hands off my drawings, will you?” Daehwi tells Woojin, not once raising his head as he tries to draw a straight line without a ruler.

Woojin uses the chance to take a peek of Daehwi’s drawing. His eyes widen into full circles when he sees a garden filled with minute flowers – and the flowers are very detailed. In the middle of the garden stands a man who stares down at the flowers with a smile on his face, arms reaching one of the detailed Irises.

Woojin tilts his head and curls his eyebrows. As far as he can remember, Daehwi does not really excel in drawing minute details like facial features, furniture details, and flowers. If he is to name one weakness of his best friend, it is his lack of patience and observation skills to actually draw minute details. Daehwi will either scrap the drawing or just draw outlines. He never, ever, completes details; that is why he wonders if something is up for Daehwi.

“Uhm, Hwi,” Woojin asks as he clears his throat. “You are drawing flowers.”

Daehwi raises his head, eyes flat into medium slits, insult evident. “Isn’t it obvious, dear Woojin?” He says with a roll of his eyes.

“No, look!” Woojin points at Daehwi’s paper, oil splattered against the contour of his fingers. “Your flowers are very on point!”

Daehwi gasps as Woojin’s finger come in contact with his paper, his inner self crying inside. He swats his best friend’s hand and covers his face with his palms. “How dare you Park Woojin! How dare you ruin my project!”

Woojin licks Daehwi’s hand on his face, in which the latter retracts his hand immediately and lets out a frustrated groan as he wipes his hand on a tissue paper. Woojin cackles and it takes Daehwi all of his energy to not curse at his best friend.

“Look dear Daehwi, your flowers really look alive! You hate drawing flowers, right?” Woojin questions with excessive enthusiasm and excitement in his voice. “If any more, I can almost see pollens!”

Daehwi looks at his best friend in disbelief, his eyes darting at Woojin, eyebrows meeting and mouth wide open. “Wow, are you saying I suck at drawing flowers?”

“Yes!” And Daehwi says in his mind that this is the last straw and decided to stand up and strangle Woojin. As Woojin sees Daehwi get up from his seat, he quickly rushes to the quadrangle, hoping for his safety from his best friend’s wrath. “I mean, no! Your flowers look pretty!”

Needless to say, the whole school witnessed Woojin strangled by a student with a blond mop of hair and Jinyoung, who had seen the whole skit, deems the attacker familiar. Very familiar.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Bae Jinyoung walks toward his classroom with his head down, not bothering to look at his path causing him to bump occasionally; but he is too passive to care. He fishes his handkerchief from his pocket and wipes the sweat off his forehead. He occasionally raises his head to look at the room number above each door, stopping when he reaches the assigned room for his business class. Jinyoung takes a deep intake of air and exhales before turning the knob of his classroom door.

He spots Jihoon sitting at their usual seat at the back of the classroom, just enough for them to hear the professor’s voice and be unnoticed most of the time. He placed his bag at the table and buries his face on his hands, groaning afterwards. Jihoon glances at his friend beside him and chuckles.

“Why the grumble, Bae?” Jihoon asks, eyes going to the side where Jinyoung sits. The latter lets out another groan and shakes his head before putting out his notebook.

“Not your business, Park. Do not mind me.”

Jihoon cackles, too loud for Jinyoung, which earned the attention of their other classmates. Jinyoung sinks into his bag, attempting to hide his face from everyone.

“So, who is it then?”

“Who is who?”

“The reason why you did not sleep during maths.”

Jinyoung snaps up and looks at Jihoon with wide bulging eyes. He opens his mouth to say something, only to close it again, which looks like a breathing fish in Jihoon’s opinion.

“How did you know I did not sleep during my previous class?” Jinyoung whispers with a confused look on his face. Jihoon cackles yet again; Jinyoung looked like he just had been caught doing something illegal.

“As if you do not know me, Bae.” Jihoon says as he wiggles his eyebrows, sending a knowing look at his friend, who looks defeated as he sighs and buries his face in his bag.

“I just do not feel like sleeping during that time.” Jinyoung mumbles, voice muffled by the cloth of his bag. “I can not sleep during my subjecs, right? I need to pass.”

Jihoon lets out a high-pitched mocking sound, face contorted into a doubtful one. “Since when do you care about your subjects, Jinyoung? You ace all of them even without studying.”

Jinyoung is about to answer but he hears the front door opening, a sign of his professor entering the room. He blows air upwards to his hair, as he looks at Jihoon, who was, at the time, giving him a knowing look. You cannot escape from me, Bae. Jinyoung just shakes his head and turns his head towards the whiteboard, as he also attempts to shake off any thoughts about his previous class.


	2. Chapter 2

Jinyoung lets out a sigh of relief as he steps out of his last class for the day. He stretches his neck from side to side, letting it crack, making his neck muscles a bit lighter. He then twists his body, in hopes of another set of cracks that will make his lower body a little less tense. As he was twisting a couple of times, someone bumped into him, making both of them fall onto the ground. The person on top of him lets out a bright grunt that sounded like honey to the boy as his head fall onto Jinyoung’s chest.

“I’m so sorry,” The person on top of him says before springing up on his knees. Jinyoung almost lets out a whimper of disappointment. “I was in a hurry because I am late for something.”

It is then when Jinyoung’s eyes adjust to confirm who the person who had bumped him is. He blinks once, twice, and thrice before revealing a chuckling Daehwi with his forefinger on his lips, as if preventing sound to come out. Daehwi smiles at him and offers him a hand, which Jinyoung gladly takes with a grateful smile.

“It’s fine; I was also not looking.” Jinyoung replies after a while of dusting his pants (and Daehwi’s too). He sends the other a gentle smile. “Where are you headed to?”

Daehwi’s eyes widen into big circles immediately after Jinyoung had asked the question. He bites his lower lip, a bit too harsh, as his eyes soften into worrying ones. He picks up his backpack on the ground that he dropped earlier and looks at Jinyoung apologetically.

“Thank you so much for reminding me. I have to go.” Daehwi mutters under his breath, barely audible but enough for Jinyoung to catch what he had said. Daehwi pouts and blows air into his cheeks.

“I promise to tell you soon, Jinyoung.”

And Daehwi scurries outside the building, leaving a confused Jinyoung behind.

_He remembered my name?_

 

As soon as he arrives at his dorm, Jinyoung tosses both his backpack and his body on his bed. He buries his face on the soft linen his bed currently has and starts to curl into comfort. The softness of his bed feels extremely nice and Jinyoung cannot help but let out a tired yawn.

A cool breeze enters his room through his opened windows, filling the space. Jinyoung lets out a hum of content as the air slightly caress his exposed skin. It is then when his phone rings suddenly that he springs up and scurries his bed for his phone.

 

**Park Jihoon**

_https://facenotebook.com/foreveryourHwi You’re welcome_

 

Jinyoung throws his phone on the bed and lets out a grunt. _How did that Park Jeojang find out about Daehwi_ , Jinyoung thinks to himself as he shuts his eyes, letting out a sigh as he pinches his nose bridge. He tries hard not to reach for his phone and click the link, as tempting it may be, so he decides to make himself a simple cup of ramen and some hotdogs.

His mind drifts off to what happened earlier as he poured hot water in his cup of ramen. Daehwi seems to be in a hurry, even bumping into Jinyoung in the process. Where is he off to? Does he need help in anything? Why is he in a hurry?

Jinyoung then tries to remember what had happened: Daehwi with his crumpled clothes, Daehwi with his sweaty neck and forehead, and Daehwi with a little red mark on his hands. He frowns and tilts his head in contemplation. Did he see it right or does Daehwi really have those marks?

His thoughts, however, come to a halt when hot water scalds the back of his hands. Jinyoung hurries towards the sink and quickly wets his hand with continuous running water. He turns off the faucet after sometime and leans his body against the counter. Jinyoung shakes his head at himself, before deciding that his cup of ramen is no more as he throws it into the trash can.

He then sets up the pan to fry hotdogs, turning the knob on low heat. Jinyoung stares at the pan blankly as it heats up over time. The stove’s fire flicker for a while before Jinyoung groans and turns off the heat as he walks toward his bed. He smacks his head mentally as he grabs his phone and clicks the link Jihoon had sent him.

 _This is Park Jeojang’s fault_ , Jinyoung thinks as he waits for it to load. He taps his feet on the floor as he waits, only to stop and turn all his focus on what is on his screen.

On it is Daehwi’s profile page, all open for him to look and explore. He scrolls down, hoping to find something about the boy and sees pictures of cute dogs and a bunch of Korean boy bands he assumes Daehwi likes; but what he sees next sends his jaw dropped and brows frowned.

A picture of Daehwi smiling with his eyes like crescents that reflect happiness and another male slinging an arm around his shoulders greets him.

Jinyoung feels his chest drop and suddenly he feels heavy, like he has a fever. He cannot stop blinking, let alone prevent ragged breaths from escaping his mouth. Jinyoung takes deep breaths and closes his eyes before locking his phone and keeping it inside his bag. His mind goes haywire. He cannot think straight. _Does Daehwi have a boyfriend?_

He ruffles his hair after a while before plopping down on his bed. He had decided that he would not think about what he saw, let alone Daehwi, for the rest of the night. He has no reason to, heck; they were not even close to friends. If Daehwi has a boyfriend, so be it. No big deal.

He decides to distract himself by watching a movie. Jinyoung squats down to set up the DVD player and chooses a film to watch. When he had decided what to watch, he sits down the couch and focuses on the film.

It seems that his choice of movie is not a good one as his mind drifts back to Daehwi again when the female lead bumps into the male lead, both of them on the ground. Jinyoung reddens and turns off the player as he rubs his face, too harsh in anyone’s opinion. He lets out a sigh of annoyance as he closes his eyes shut, in attempt to calm himself and to shake off his mind from any thoughts.

He trudges slowly towards his bedroom, lying down on his back as soon as he reaches the bed. He stares too long at the ceiling and did not notice the time pass by and his eyes slowly shut themselves. The cold wind lulls Jinyoung into a comfortable sleep, the stillness of the night helping in the process. Little did he also notice that he had blindly walked to his bag and fishes out his phone before going to sleep, hands clutching the device tightly.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*

Jinyoung slowly walks the halls of the College of Business Administration for his business law class, rubbing his eyes along the way while trying to stifle a yawn. He fails, however, letting a yawn escape his mouth as he drags himself towards the end of the hall where his classroom is.

As he gets further, he sees a crowd of students huddled along the hallway, all looking up at the screen above them. There were whispers and mumbles among the students and Jinyoung tilts his head in confusion as he wonders why they are here and what got them all riled up.

Jinyoung squeezes himself between the students, mumbling an apology to whoever he bumps into. The mumbles gets louder and louder and Jinyoung did not feel so suffocated in his life until now. Nevertheless, he attempts to squeeze his body out of the student mess and ends up being in front of the crowd.

He expects something like an announcement of suspension of classes or some contest with huge prize money to appear on the screen; but when he looked up, his assumption is proven wrong.

On the screen is a picture of Daehwi smiling, the same smile he saw last night, holding a V sign pose with his left hand on his waist. Jinyoung tries to prevent a smile from forming on his lips, but fails miserably as he looks at the screen fondly. However, another picture flashes on the screen that makes Jinyoung look at the screen in disbelief.

The same picture of Daehwi and another man that he saw last night is flashed on the screen; but there is something that makes Jinyoung’s brows meet as he feels a sudden rush of anger inside him.

On the bottom of the picture are the words: **Lee Daehwi, thank you for getting me** **₩20,000. Enjoy, faggot.**

Jinyoung clutches his fists, his eyes still glaring at the screen. _What the hell is going on? What does this mean?_

The crowd suddenly starts to disperse and Jinyoung can feel the air flow again. He closes his eyes to feel the wind, in hopes of it helping to calm him. His eyes twitch a bit as his brows meet yet again when he hears someone approaching. He hears a silent whimper and a few ragged breaths, which made him open his eyes.

What greets his eyes is Daehwi looking at the screen, jaws dropped and a teardrop slowly gracing his cheek. Daehwi quickly covers his mouth as his tears flow out of his soft eyes. His body tenses up and down and Jinyoung quickly goes beside him, just in time to support him falling. Daehwi’s sobs are getting harder and Jinyoung’s first instinct is to cover Daehwi’s eyes as he leans the other’s head on his chest.

“Daehwi-ah…” Jinyoung whispers as he holds Daehwi closely. “I’m here, Daehwi-ah. Let me take you somewhere else.”

Daehwi does not answer as tears prevent him from doing so, hiccups furthermore immobilizing him. Jinyoung whispers Daehwi’s name repeatedly as they walk the quiet halls of the building, with nothing to hear but Daehwi’s grief.


	3. Chapter 3

Daehwi runs as fast as he could, not heeding any attention to whomever he passes through. Looks of pity and utter disgust are thrown at his speeding figure heading towards the main entrance of the college building. Trailing behind him is Jinyoung, who keeps shouting his name and tries to keep up to his speed.

He runs at increasing speed. He wants to escape. He wants to run away from everybody. He wants to escape the criticizing gazes he managed to catch while he ran. He wants to run away because maybe, just maybe, he can also run away from the pain in his chest. He feels his knees getting weak every step he takes. He feels his body getting sore and his chest crying for air every second he breathes, but he does not stop.

He does not stop because they might have followed him. He does not stay because he might get hurt again. He does not stop because he might have just killed himself because of embarrassment and regret. How could he be so gullible? How could he, a child psychology student who studies how minds work, not know what they were thinking?

Daehwi’s feet take him to the sunken garden at the far eastern wing of the whole campus vicinity. Darkness and silence drapes over the whole field, with the green grass sitting patiently for Daehwi to lie on. He collapses on the grassy ground, letting raindrops wash over his face, his body, his pain. He continues to cry, hands gripping on any patch of grass his hands come contact with. He clutches them and tries to uproot them, but to no avail. Despite his anger consuming every inch of his body, the shame and tiredness from running greatly weakens him to do so.

He looks up at the sympathetic sky crying with him. The sky looks so dark, so shady. There is nothingness above. The moon he had so hoped to be there hides behind the blanket of darkness which enveloped the sky. His only hope, crushed even until now. He shouts in pain, cursing everything he sees to die.

_Why do I deserve to be treated like this? What did I do to everyone? Why does it have to be me?_

Daehwi clutches his chest as he cries harder, his grief replacing the silence that once dominated the area. His tears camouflaged as one with the rain as it falls down his eyes of what seems to be tiny droplets that goes one with the ground. His tears meets the ground, ready to be unseen and unnoticed beneath the green blades sprouting from it– his tears of hopes and dreams as it flattens into nothingness.

It is then when Jinyoung arrives at the garden panting and gasping for air. He battles breathing under the rain as he searches for Daehwi. He shouts the other’s name under the rain, hoping to be heard under the harsh rain preventing him to see the boy.

“Lee Daehwi! Daehwi-ah! Are you here? Answer me, please!”

He gets nothing but the roar of the rain as if angry at him for not being able to do something. Jinyoung drops to the ground in an attempt to regain his energy to resume his search. He closes his eyes. He waits for his breath to even out. Images of Daehwi looking so broken appear behind his close eyes – the tears continuously flowing from his eyes and mouth open in disbelief. This did nothing but greatly motivate Jinyoung to search again for the boy who he deems needs someone beside him.

He tries to shout again when he trips onto something, making him tumble on the ground as he winces in pain. He blinks repeatedly to help his eyes adjust under the continuous downpour, only to see a human silhouette before him. It is as if the rain suddenly quieted its voice despite its continuous assault of droplets for Jinyoung to hear sobs and whimpers from the person. He moves closer and he quickly envelopes Daehwi into a tight hug as soon as he confirms that it is indeed him.

“Daehwi-ah, are you alright? What are you doing here?”

He feels Daehwi snuggle into his chest as the other still cries, voice hoarse from what Jinyoung assumes to be nonstop crying. Jinyoung places his chin on top of Daehwi’s head as he rubs the other’s back while whispering calming nothings on his ear.

The rain continues to pour above them but everything changes for Daehwi. His tears slowly morph from what seems to be tears of extreme sadness into something like tears of joy. He lets his lips slowly curve into a contented smile as he snuggles further into Jinyoung’s chest that is, for him, the most warm and comfortable place in the world.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~~*~*

Jinyoung wakes from his bed with an aching body and a feverish feeling, his hair tousled messily and eyes drooping repeatedly. He lets out a cough or two before deciding to get up and get ready for his morning classes but he nearly toppled over when he sees Daehwi on the other side of the bed, eyes and lips void of anything that happened last night.

Jinyoung takes a closer look at the sleeping Daehwi. The other’s face glow an unknown shine under the ray of sunlight gracing his peaceful face. Jinyoung smiles fondly at the sleeping boy in front of him as he places a light kiss on his forehead before heading to the bathroom to wash up. It is only when he looked at the mirror does his actions earlier come crashing into him. He bites his lower lip and smacks his head a few times as he shakes his head.

_What the hell, Bae Jinyoung? Are you crazy?_

He tries to ignore his heart thumping against his chest as he applies washing cream on his face, giving up after a few seconds as he places a hand over his heart. Jinyoung rubs it slowly and lets out a soft sigh as he tries to even out his breaths.

_Lee Daehwi. What have you done to me?_

Jinyoung emerges out of the bathroom with a towel draped over his neck, hair still wet from shower. He smiles softly at the sight of Daehwi, who had just got up from sleep and rubs his eyes in a rather endearing manner. The other’s eyes widen into full circles when he sees Jinyoung by the bathroom door staring at him with soft eyes.

“Good morning, Daehwi-ah.” Jinyoung smiles more, his lips stretching further more. “How are you? Did you sleep well?”

Daehwi relaxes visibly and tilts his head cutely with his eyes closed into eye smiles. “I feel a little feverish”

Jinyoung swears he could see the entire universe in Daehwi. His eyes reflect the stars shining brightly at night. His body glows with imaginary embedded sparkles and Jinyoung wonders if this is the Daehwi whom he had hugged tightly last night – the same Daehwi who cried nonstop to sleep. He walks toward the bed and sits beside Daehwi, whose head leaned against his shoulder. Jinyoung drapes a hand over Daehwi’s shoulder and pulls him closer.

“Thank you, Jinyoungie-hyung.”

The said boy whips his head at Daehwi, the latter snickering at the elder’s response. Daehwi abruptly rises from the bed and heads towards his bag, only to find every piece of his belongings still wet. Jinyoung smiles apologetically before saying, “I’m sorry. I tried to place it everywhere warm enough to let them dry but they did not.”

“Thank you again,” Daehwi says behind a warm smile. “And sorry for crashing here and for last night.”

Jinyoung frowns a bit at the sudden apology. “It’s okay. Nothing to be sorry for.”

Daehwi chuckles before striding towards Jinyoung and enveloping him into a hug. He buries his face into Jinyoung’s neck and breathes a sigh of content. Jinyoung flinches slightly but then welcomes the younger in his arms after a while, burying his face as well. They both leave the room afterwards and Daehwi decides that he will cook for Jinyoung as payment for everything, despite Jinyoung’s protests.

Jinyoung is left in his room, waiting for Daehwi to finish his “surprise” when his phone rings suddenly, causing him to jump slightly. He answers the phone without looking who it is that called.

“Hello?”

“Jinyoung-dear.”

Jinyoung flinches at the cold tone of his mother. He does not notice his head lower after hearing his mother’s voice. He closes his fists and stares at it as he utters a small reply to his mother.

“Mother.”

“How are your academics?”

He cannot fight the hurt and disappointment that courses through his body upon hearing his mother’s reply. Jinyoung knows better than to ask why and resigns to only shaking his head before continuing the conversation.

“It is fine, mother. Good as always.”

“Well, better make those grades better, Jinyoung-ah.” His mother says in a ice-laced tone. Jinyoung fights back a sigh from escaping his lips. “I do not want a slacking heir to our company.”

His mother cuts the call before Jinyoung can even reply. Tears threaten to escape his eyes anytime that moment. It has always been like this. He is expecting for his mother to ask him how he is, but his mother always asks about his grades, his performances in school. He always ends up crying himself under a pillow and was about to do that when he heard Daehwi’s voice resonating around the house. He quickly replaces his frown with a smile, hoping to hide whatever his concerns are from Daehwi.

“It’s ready now, hyung!”

And Jinyoung sees the spark in Daehwi’s pretty eyes again – the sparks that are enough to make Jinyoung going despite all things. He quickly gives Daehwi a hug from behind and buries his head in between the younger’s junction of his shoulder and neck. He hears Daehwi hum and chuckle happily and Jinyoung’s worries immediately wash away from his mind.

_Yup, it’s better this way._


End file.
